04.05.2013 Views

MICHAEL DEMPSEY - Cranfield University

MICHAEL DEMPSEY - Cranfield University

MICHAEL DEMPSEY - Cranfield University

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

Cognitive rules and culture<br />

Systems relating to cognitive rules<br />

6.10. The first issue conveying cognitive ‘meanings’ to PCS managers is<br />

their perceptions of how the union has altered, or is altering, in terms of<br />

the relationship between managers and lay members – can one<br />

describe any of the unions as ‘member led’ or ’officer led?’ This is<br />

complicated in PCS because of the strife that took place until 2002<br />

between the Joint General Secretaries and, later, between the General<br />

Secretary elect and the surviving Joint General Secretary.<br />

PCS hasn't made up its mind yet. There are many different<br />

things going on the moment. To be quite blunt, I'm not sure it's<br />

worth me saying anything at the moment. I'm sure you are<br />

aware of the background with what is going on in terms of court<br />

cases and elections and stuff (Interviewee E)<br />

This did not, however, prevent the same interviewee from offering his<br />

own ‘take’ on where the old unions sat:-<br />

In leaving Unison I had been interested in IT management and<br />

issues of organisations and cultures. I quoted Ouroussof a lot in<br />

all my papers and looking at all the senior managers together<br />

there were two camps and I think two cultures that summed up<br />

PTC and CPSA. The CPSA approach was that this is all<br />

nonsense, just get on and do it, we're not having working parties<br />

or committees, we’re not discussing this or that with debates,<br />

discussion or inclusiveness. The PTC approach was that we had<br />

better set up a committee to discuss this and have some lay<br />

involvement and get views on this and that. I think that came out<br />

quite a bit and certainly there were people who were navel<br />

gazing and blue sky thinking and a sort of cynical, this is all<br />

nonsense, approach. That very much describes the cultures.<br />

(Interviewee E)<br />

The idea that it is difficult to pin down PCS culture in this particular<br />

respect is supported elsewhere:-<br />

I think we probably now have across PCS got a huge range of<br />

different cultures in the different groups that are historical. I<br />

moved around different groups in NUCPS and each different<br />

bargaining group had its own way of working and different<br />

relationships between officers and lay people. I think we have a<br />

lot of diversity, probably, at the moment. (Interviewee G)<br />

But the diversity, it is suggested, has not been a benign diversity:-<br />

Both the previous unions I was a part of were the second<br />

category, partnership. Clearly with a General Secretary who was<br />

the General Secretary but not all power devolving from him. The<br />

General Secretary's view was that you were paid a lot of money<br />

to get on with it and he would praise you when you did OK and<br />

give you bloody hell if you screwed up on something. That has<br />

142

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!